Day 115 – 2 Samuel 10:1-5

Scripture Review

2 Samuel 10:1-5

"And it came to pass after this, that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead."

(2 Samuel 10:1)

A new ruler comes into power, and with a new ruler comes a test of wisdom. A change in leadership reveals the heart. When Saul died, David mourned. When Jonathan's son was found, David showed kindness. Now when Nahash dies, I wonder how David will respond.

"Then said David, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me. And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon."

(2 Samuel 10:2)

David says, "I will shew kindness." That phrase has become one of the marks of David's heart. In chapter 9, he showed kindness to Mephibosheth for Jonathan's sake. Now he wants to show kindness to Hanun for Nahash's sake. Power has not made David forget mercy.

I find it interesting that the Bible does not give all the details of what Nahash had done for David, but David remembered it and that is enough. Many acts of kindness are unrewarded, unrecorded, and unseen by most people, yet they are not lost.

"And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?"

(2 Samuel 10:3)

Here we go again. David sends comforters, but the princes call them spies. Their question is very similar to what satan posed to Eve in the garden. "Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father?" They plant doubt in Hanun's mind. They do not know David's heart, so they judge him by their own.

"Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away."

(2 Samuel 10:4)

Hanun shaves off "the one half of their beards" and cuts their garments "in the middle, even to their buttocks." This was designed humiliation. In that culture, a beard was connected with manhood, dignity, and honor. Cutting off a man's beard was treated as a deep indignity. The garments were cut "in the middle," meaning they were left shamefully exposed. These were ambassadors. An insult to them was an insult to David. Hanun did not merely reject kindness, he mocked the one who sent it.

"When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed: and the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return."

(2 Samuel 10:5)

David hears what happened, and his first recorded response is care for his servants. "He sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed." David understands their humiliation. He does not force them to march back into Jerusalem exposed and embarrassed. "Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return." That is tender leadership. David gives them time to heal, time to regain dignity, time for the public mark of shame to pass. Jericho becomes a quiet place of recovery before they return to the king.

This is painful because sometimes we will have our purest motives misjudged. That is hard, but it is not new. David knew what it was to be misunderstood by Saul. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself came in perfect kindness and was despised and rejected of men. The servant should not be shocked when good is evil spoken of. I guess the right perspective to have is not only, "Will I show kindness?" but also, "Will I keep a right spirit when kindness is rejected."